AG Perarivalan, one of the men convicted for the assasination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, has enrolled as a lawyer with the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry..Perarivalan was released on remission by the Supreme Court in May 2022. He joined an LLB course soon after his release and cleared the All India Bar Examination in 2025.According to a report by The Hindu, Perarilivalan formally joined the Bar on Monday, April 27, and will be practicing before the Madras High Court. .Perarivalan was convicted and sentenced to death when he was 19 for aiding in making the bomb responsible for the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.In 2014, the Supreme Court commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment on the ground of delay in deciding mercy petitions.Later he applied to the Governor for pardon and remission of his sentence on December 30, 2015.With no decision forthcoming from the Governor, Perarivalan moved the Supreme Court almost three years later, in September 2018.The Supreme Court then asked the Governor to decide the pardon plea as he “deemed fit”. Three days later, the Tamil Nadu Cabinet recommended to the Governor, to remit Perarivalan’s sentence and release him forthwith.However, the Governor refused to take a call on the same stating that the President is the competent authority when it comes to remission of sentence of convicts and had referred it to the President.On May 18, 2022, a Supreme Court bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao, BR Gavai and AS Bopanna exercised its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to order Perarivalan's release noting that there was considerable delay by the Governor in deciding his plea for remission.
